Monday, January 13, 2014

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Undone by RE Hunter

Synopsis

Five years ago, Embry Jacobs ran...She ran from a past that still hasn’t let her go, but her dream of becoming a lawyer is stronger than her fear of confronting that past. Embry’s sole focus is to get through law school—with the help of her best friend, Morgan—and make something of the broken girl she became. Not thinking about falling in love, being in a

relationship or even entertaining the idea of romance, Embry is moving forward one day at a time.

Luke Brody is charming and sexy, and has a past of his own. He wants nothing more than to put his demons to rest and move on with his life. But, when Embry enters the picture, is he destined to repeat those same mistakes?

Blindsided by their instant attraction, neither Luke nor Embry are prepared for the feelings they’re developing. But will it all be for nothing?

Will they let their pasts destroy them, or will they risk everything to fight for their relationship when it all comes undone?

Lisa’s Review

3.5 Stars

Undone by R.E. Hunter is the first novel in her Disclosure series. Two people with pasts that still haunt them meet and are blindsided by their attraction for one another. Can they each let go of their past demons that continue to torment them? Will past mistakes be repeated?

Embry Jacobs has returned home to attend law school. After experiencing a horrible relationship in high school, Embry ran and attended university in a different state. She is done running. She may not completely be over all that happened with her high school boyfriend, but she is determined to have a fresh start and accomplish her dream of becoming a lawyer. Embry is focused solely on school and is willing to sacrifice all to see that she stays on the path that she has set for herself, including saying no to any romantic involvements. When she literally crashes into a beautiful man who is all southern charm, all thoughts of staying focused on her dream are sidelined by the undeniable attraction she feels.

Luke Brody is also making a fresh start and has relocated in order to do so. He has a loving family that supports him; however, he has hidden secrets in his past that he wishes to stay in the dark. When he collides into a beautiful young woman, he is immediately intrigued by her and most definitely feels the undeniable attraction the two of them share. Unable to walk away from her, Luke wants nothing more than to pursue what they both are trying to ignore.

As Luke and Embry get to know one another and slowly pursue a tentative relationship, they both start to let each other in and the walls they have erected gradually start to crumble. They have a strong connection but soon matters take an unexpected turn leaving Embry and Luke with a choice to make. Can they stay away from one another indefinitely? Further, when even more secrets are startlingly revealed about Luke, can the pair pick up the pieces and move forward?

Undone is a well-written novel and, while I enjoyed the book, it did not quite grip me like I was expecting. Both Embry and Luke were great characters who were well developed. However, as much as I liked them the book was very slowly paced for the majority of it and I found myself getting a little bored at times. There was definitely a very slow build when it came to the storyline and just as matters start to get a little more fast-paced and interesting we are hot with a cliff-hanger. GAH! I truly hate, despise, loathe, abhor…you get the idea….cliff-hangers. Now, for me, the question becomes whether or not the storyline could have been fit into one book and this will not be answered until book two is made available. Perhaps a lot of what goes on in this book which slowed down the pacing could have been lessened to some degree. Perhaps not. What I do know is that I will be super unhappy with the turn of events that occurred at the end if this now becomes an over-indulgent angsty ride from this point forward. We shall see.

All in all, I did enjoy Undone. Yes, it did lose me at times throughout the book but the decent writing kept me going. That is a testament to a good author. While I may not be the greatest fan of the slow pacing, what occurred near the end and a cliff-hanger ending, I was still entertained enough to keep reading and entertained enough to pick up the next book. I think that this will be a book that will generate a lot of vastly different opinions. Some may walk away in love, some may dislike the book and some, like me, will be right in the middle.

Excerpt

Embry sat in the middle of Luke’s floor, surrounded by baking flour. It was everywhere.

He walked in, and she did everything she could to hide her smile when she saw the look on his face. He was sexy as usual with no shirt, pajama pants hanging off his hips, and bedroom eyes. Until he took in the scene in the kitchen. His beautiful bedroom eyes widened into surprised saucers as he stared at Embry.

“Problem?” she deadpanned.

Luke shook his head, seemingly at a loss for words.

“I was going to make you breakfast.” She picked up a handful of flour and let it sift through her hands like a child would sand on the beach.

“That was nice of you,” he said carefully. “What happened instead?”

Embry hung her head. “I had an incident with the flour.”

Luke walked toward her, leaving floury footprints on the dark, tiled floor. Squatting in front of her, he brushed her hair from her face. “I can see that, baby. But what, exactly, happened?”

Good question. She'd woken up determined to surprise him with a nice breakfast. After searching his well-stocked pantry and refrigerator, she found all the ingredients necessary for blueberry pancakes. She pulled everything out that she would need except the flour. His pantry had tall pull-out cabinets, and the flour sat at the top of one. She’d poked around until she located a step stool. She used it to reach the flour, but the stool didn’t give her enough height. Stretching as far as she could, her fingers grazed the tip of the package. She hoped she could knock it over into her arms, but the flour toppled into her chest before it fell to the floor and exploded.

"I was going to make you blueberry pancakes, but I knocked the flour down from the top shelf of the pantry, and it kind of exploded."

His eyes traveled around the kitchen. An inch of flour covered most of the surfaces, including Embry. He brought his eyes back to her and wiped at a smudge of flour on her cheek. "I kind of figured that part out."

She glared at him, grabbed his arms, and pulled, causing him to fall to the floor in a cloud of white powder.

He narrowed his eyes and tackled her, pinning her arms above her head and hovering over her. "Really, Bree? You sure you want to play this game? You'll lose."

Never one to back down from a challenge, Embry wiggled beneath him, trying to pull her arms free. "Bring it on, Brody," she said, her voice husky.

His mouth found hers, and he released her arms, giving her free rein to explore his body. She ran her hands over his muscled back, up his arms, and into his hair. Just as she was starting to enjoy herself, he pulled away. Before she knew it, he had pulled her back to her feet.

“All right,” he said, clapping and making flour fly. “Pancakes. Let’s do this.”

Embry stepped toward him, softening her eyes and sticking out her bottom lip in a perfect pout. “I’m not interested in pancakes anymore.”

Giveaway

About the author

R.E. Hunter is a native New Yorker and lives on Long Island with her husband and their monster kitty. She works as an attorney by day and writes whenever she can. As an avid reader and writer, she's excited to be on this crazy journey publishing her debut novel, Undone, this November. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her somewhere near a beach. She loves traveling, road trips, concerts, photography and good wine.

This is an incredible giveaway! Ms Hunter is a new-to-me author and there's nothing like a new read! :) Thanks for the opportunity! :) Oh, and southern boys are so sexy, from the top of the 10-gallon hat to the tips of their cowboy boots! :)

Love Southern boys because they have the best manners, the accent is a plus, and they are very respectful to their parents and families. They are very hard workers (of course all these comments are from books I have read). and last they treat their wives and children with respect and as there prized possession. Now who can't love that.